


A Second Family for Virgil

by FloofyConfusedNerd



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, But he has formed a hesitantly positive opinion of them after implied length of time, Dark Sides As Family (Sanders Sides), Gen, If I missed anything I should tag please tell me I am new to this, Janus is judging the light sides very carefully, Janus is spying on the light sides for a good reason, Janus tries to reassure him, Just angst really, Not that they're shown talking here hence the not tagging of relationships, Platonic everything although one can read romance into it if they want to, Pre-Canon, Sad Ending, Sad boi hours, Sympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Sympathetic Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Sides (Sanders Sides), Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Sympathetic Logic | Logan Sanders, Sympathetic Morality | Patton Sanders, Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), Virgil has self esteem issues, no beta we die like sleep deprived students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloofyConfusedNerd/pseuds/FloofyConfusedNerd
Summary: In which a snake realizes that nothing he does can calm his favorite spider and makes a dreaded decision for the spider's sake.Here's an instrumental piece that I think really fits this one-shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekLU2cfIXRE&list=PLFmFwQaLxCJTMqoRMggFFI6v752Dy03B0&index=1
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Anxiety | Virgil Sanders' Spider, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & The Dark Sides, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Implied familial dark sides, Implied familial light sides, Implied future Virgil and light sides friendship, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, The creativitwins are bros and care about each other even though they get on each other's nerves, The light sides haven't accepted Remus yet and don't know how to talk to him
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	A Second Family for Virgil

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Self Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24060748) by [parallelmonsoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/parallelmonsoon/pseuds/parallelmonsoon). 



> This is basically just familial angst that explains what I think happened pre-canon, and that's it. If you read this you are asking to suffer and the only comfort I can offer you is that this leads up to canon which has happiness. I should probably get some blanket and hot cocoa for you to make it all better, but I don't have anything like that. If it's any comfort, Janus's last idea turned out to be correct...

One more time, that's all Janus needed to show Virgil what he had meant all along. It was Virgil's birthday after all. How could a birthday party show anything other than the family's love of Virgil? Surely this would show Virgil that Janus hadn't actually been lying about how important they all knew he was, right?

Janus double-checked his list to make sure they were ready for Virgil. Hazard-free area? Check! Decorations? Check! Thematic entertainment? Double-check! Food, refreshments, and cake? Check, check, and check! Everything, well, everything tangible, was ready.

"Virgil! You can open your eyes and see your positively sufficient party now!" Virgil deserved the best and surely he would see that they would never consider "sufficient" good enough for their Virgil's birthday.

As Virgil's hands fell away from his eyes, Janus could see a small smile creep up Virgil's face. Things would turn out right, after all.

That's how it seemed at first, but as the evening went on, it became evident that something was wrong. Maybe the decorations were too enthusiastic and stressed him out. Did the games worry him more than show him their appreciation for some adrenaline? Could he tell that Janus was worried? One way or another, Virgil had clearly started to have enough. Maybe a break in his room would make him feel better? All he needed was a shameless excuse so Virgil wouldn't have to worry about it...

"Virgil, perhaps you could tuck Phobia in for the night?"

"You could just say that you don't like my spider sitting on you."

Crap. That wasn't at all what Janus meant.

"No, no, she is absolutely too close to me, it's not like she seems at all in want of her warm terrarium!"

For a brief moment, panic seemed to flash in Virgil's eyes, but before Janus could say anything, he'd scooped Phobia up and left for his room.

\---

While the others played shape-shifting charades until Virgil came back, Janus went to check on him. It had been too long, and Virgil hadn't even gotten his presents yet.

"-not even good at taking care of Phobia! I even know what it's like to be a spider! How could I have forgotten?!"

Oh no. Not again, but at least Virgil didn't think that they-

"Maybe Janus is right about me. I keep messing things up again and again."

NONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Anything but that!

"The party was probably just something they thought they had to do. They were looking for my approval the whole time. They didn't really like it. They just wanted me to think they liked it."

How did that fail so badly? Janus wanted to bust in and tell him that they did love him and threw the party because they just wanted to see him being happy again, but what could he even say that Virgil wouldn't turn against himself? It was all Janus could do to hold his hand to his own mouth and not give himself away.

Loathe as Janus was to admit it, this had been the last chance he gave himself to show Virgil that he was safe and loved with his family. Very little about their family was a beacon of predictability and security, but he'd hoped they could at least be enough to show Virgil how much he mattered. If this didn't work, then nothing would, and if they couldn't show Virgil his worth, then Virgil deserved better - even if that meant he lived with the other sides. They could so naive and square, but maybe they could help?

Janus asked Remus to bring Virgil his presents and distract him so that his birthday of all days wouldn't end like this and headed to his own room. Maybe Virgil would feel less self-conscious about opening his presents if he opened them by himself? Janus, at any rate, needed some space to think over what he would have to do to fix this.

\---

As yelling and what sounded like small explosions took him out of his thoughts, Janus realized that he didn't leave anyone to make sure Remus didn't take things overboard. This episode was on the verge of going conscious, and that would bring the main sides running. Good going on his part!

Well, might as well use this as another opportunity to see if they seemed like a good enough family for Virgil. Besides, Janus wanted to see if Virgil was ok without getting immediately noticed and shut out.

Patton came first, with Logan and Roman racing behind him.  
They were harsh with Remus, which absolutely did not rub Janus the wrong way at all.

When Janus looked at Virgil, or, as well as he could from outside the dark mass of clouds and shadows that surrounded him, he took a sharp breath in. How could he have let this happen?

In the meantime, the sparring match between Roman and Remus seemed to have gotten more light-hearted than before and the other two were - hugging?

"Falsehood, Patton. There is no reason to believe he would act on any of these thoughts any more than he's done before. The degree to which he's ever listened to them is minor. They'll pass and Thomas will be just fine."

And that's when Janus saw it. Despite the fact that these reassurances had not been directed towards Virgil, he'd let the darkness dissapate enough for Janus to see his hunched shoulders loosen up before Virgil adjusted his hoodie again.

While Janus's times disguised as the lamp had shown him that the favored trio were more than capable of reassuring each other after an argument, he hadn't guessed just how much that would or even could carry over to helping Virgil. And if they could help Virgil, then what wouldn't be worth it?

Even so, knowing how much Virgil would hate to leave the familiar warmth of their family-life, sending Virgil towards the life he deserved would be far from easy. This meant that he wouldn't just have to push Virgil towards the main sides, but away from their family as well. He knew what it would take, though. Virgil's dedication to protecting Thomas and his current fears about his own self-worth could make a perfect storm that landed Virgil with the consciously recognized sides. If only that didn't mean first putting salt in Virgil's emotional wounds, but the ends would eventually justify the means. Janus could now see that they would.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Une Famille Seconde Pour Virgil](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665309) by [FloofyConfusedNerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloofyConfusedNerd/pseuds/FloofyConfusedNerd)




End file.
